Attractions of Poltava region

The sculpture of a plumber, looking waist-deep from a sewer hatch, is one of the new sights of Horishni Plavni.

The plumber is depicted with a wrench in his hand and, judging by the expression on his face, a little tipsy. A dog is sitting opposite him on the hatch cover.

The author of the monument is sculptor Oleh Ryabo.

The memorial sign to the Poltava halushka, installed next to the observation deck on Ivanova Hill, is considered one of the symbols of modern Poltava.

The authors of the monument are the artist Anatoliy Chornoshchokov and the sculptor Mykola Tsys. The opening of the monument in 2006 was dedicated to the birthday of the writer Mykola Hohol, who praised halushka in his works.

Initially, the monument was erected near the Holy Assumption Cathedral, but at the request of believers, it was later moved closer to the Lileya restaurant.

This place is popular with newlyweds and guests of the city. Every year in the first decade of June, the Poltava Halushka Festival is held near the monument.

The Museum of Science in Poltava was opened in 2023 at the National University "Poltava Polytechnic named after Yuriy Kondratyuk" to the 205th anniversary of the establishment of the educational institution.

This is an interactive space where scientific discoveries made by mankind, inventions of Poltava Polytechnic scientists and the evolution of scientific progress are presented in an accessible and interesting form.

The basis of the exposition is made up of exhibits from the history of the Poltava Polytechnic - one of the most famous and oldest higher educational institutions of the Poltava region. It is located in the historical building of the Institute of Noble Girls - an architectural monument of the first half of the 19th century. The modern university was founded in 1930 as the Poltava Institute of Agricultural Construction.

The museum presents a model of the university building, models of mining machinery and oil production equipment.

15 exhibits from the mobile exposition of the Kyiv "Science Museum" are adapted both for children of primary school age and for adult visitors. By interacting with the exhibits and using the tips of the interpreters, visitors have the opportunity to learn about various laws and phenomena of physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, etc.

Pyvykha Mountain in Hradyzk on the banks of the Kremenchuk Reservoir is considered the highest point on the left bank of the Dnipro or the Dnipro Lowland (168 meters). It is sometimes mistakenly called the highest point of Left-Bank Ukraine.

It arose as a result of the onset of continental ice during the Ice Age. There are outcrops of blue marl - a rare highly calcareous clay used in construction.

It is believed that the name of the mountain is connected with the settlement that existed here in ancient times, which belonged to the boyars Pyva.

In the 16th century, the Pyvohorsky Monastery was founded, near which the settlement of Horodyshche, and later the present Hradyzk, arose.

After the construction of the Kremenchuk Reservoir, Mount Pyvykha is gradually collapsing. It is a historical and geological reserve.

The Memorial Museum-Estate of the Hero of Ukraine, People's Artist of Ukraine Rayisa Kyrychenko was officially established in 2024. Previously, it operated on a non-profit basis. It bears the informal name Museum-Estate "Mother's Cherry-Tree" in honor of the popular Ukrainian song performed by the artist.

The museum is located in Rayisa Kyrychenko's native house in the village of Koreshchyna in the Poltava region. She was born here in 1943. She went to school in the neighboring village of Zemlianka, where she first started singing in the choir (a monument was erected in front of the school in 2008).

The house has preserved the atmosphere that existed here during the life of the People's Artist. Personal belongings and photographs are presented. It is possible to listen to recordings of Rayisa Kyrychenko's concerts.

The most valuable exhibit is the titular Ukrainian stage set of Berehynya, donated to the museum by Rayisa Kyrychenko's niece.

Also in the village you can visit the grave of Rayisa Kyrychenko, where she was buried, according to her will, next to her mother's grave in 2005.

The Reshetylivka City Council Local Lore Museum is located in the premises of the Culture and Leisure Center of the urban-type settlement of Reshetylivka. It was opened in 1965 at the initiative of the local community.

The exposition is spread over three rooms and has over 3,500 exhibits. The historical sections of the museum tell about the founding and development of Reshetylivka in ancient times, about the period of social upheavals of the early 20th century, about Soviet rule and the events of World War II, etc.

The pride of the museum is the department of weaving and carpet weaving, where you can get acquainted with the origins and development of folk art of Reshetylivka region in the conditions of subsistence farming, the activities of the Poltava provincial zemstvo regarding the revival of handicrafts at the beginning of the 20th century, the work of local art and industrial artels, a factory of art crafts and a school of craftsmen.

The best examples of Reshetylivka carpets, embroidery, embroidered towels made by local craftsmen are presented. Among the unique exhibits: carpets "Centauri and birds", "Peacocks" (Leonid Tovstukha), carpets "Tree of Life", "Autumn", "Red Viburnum", towels "Berehynia", "Tree of Life" (Nadia Babenko), shirts made by Olena Vasylenko and much more.

Since 1962, the modest Saint Macarius Church has been the cathedral of the Poltava Diocese.

The small parish Macarius church was built on the outskirts of the city at the beginning of the 20th century. According to the prophecy of the foolish Kuzma Ivashyn from Horbanivka, who lived in the 20s of the last century, this church was supposed to withstand the calamity and later become a cathedral, since almost all other churches of the city would be destroyed. And so it happened - a wave of temple destruction in Soviet times bypassed the Macarius Church. And after the Transfiguration Cathedral was demolished in 1962, it really acquired the status of a cathedral.

Several restorations did not change its original appearance. Paintings from the beginning of the 20th century have been preserved in the interior, in the northern part of the church there is the largest shrine of the cathedral - the Horbaniv miracle-working icon of the Holy Mother of God (1786), in the Illinsky aisle - the revered Kapluniv miracle-working icon.

Saint Michael's Church in Kovali was founded in 1901. The original temple was built of oak without a single nail.

During the Second World War, the church was damaged, later it was used as a chemical warehouse. In the 1960s, it was destroyed by the Soviet authorities. And only in 1993, the Saint Michael's Church was revived and rebuilt from bricks on the old foundation.

Saint Nicholas Church in Vepryk was built in 1823 in the style of classicism.

The central part is crowned by a hemispherical dome on a tall cylindrical drum, above the western vestibule - a two-tier bell tower, completed by a dome with a spire. The northern, southern and western facades are decorated with four-column Tuscan porticos with triangular pediments.

In the interior of the Saint Nicholas Church, the remains of an oil painting of the 19th century have been preserved.

Until recently, the temple was in an extremely deplorable state, but restoration is currently underway.

Saint Nicholas Church in Vepryk is an architectural monument of national importance.

The Church of Nicholas the Wonderworker was founded during the construction of the Poltava Fortress, and was located on one of its bastions on Institute Hill.

At first it was wooden. In 1774, a new stone Saint Nicholas Church was built. By the middle of the 19th century, the small church could no longer accommodate all the parishioners, and in 1855, a two-story stone annex was built at the expense of the merchant Mykola Vakulenko, on the second floor of which the warm church of George the Victorious was located.

The main temple was destroyed during the Second World War (fragments of brick walls remained), and the annex was preserved - in Soviet times it was used as a production facility.

Currently, the Saint Nicholas Church is functioning. Belongs to the community of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

On the night of October 3, 2025, as a result of a nighttime Russian missile attack, the Saint Nicholas Church of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine suffered significant damage - the blast wave broke out half of the windows and damaged the refectory.

The church of the holy great martyr and healer Panteleymon is located in the park named after Ivan Kotlyarevskyi, on the territory of which the city cemetery used to be located.

The All Saints Cemetery Church was located near the cemetery, in which at the end of the 19th century, the famous pope Hapon, the leader of the Christian trade union of St. Petersburg, the organizer of the mass march of workers on the day of "Bloody Sunday", served as a priest. During Soviet times, the All Saints Church was destroyed.

In 1999, by the decision of the city authorities of Poltava, the construction of the church of Saint Panteleymon was started nearby. On September 19, 2000, the church was consecrated, and on September 23 - the first divine liturgy.

The Church of Reverend Sampson on the Swedish grave in Poltava was founded in 1852 in honor of the victory of the Russian army over the Swedes in 1709.

Peter I himself wanted to build a temple on the Poltava battlefield, but the Holy Synod delayed the decision, and after the death of the emperor, the idea was forgotten. Privy councilor Yosyp Sudienko later decided to carry out Peter's will, allocating 100,000 rubles from his own funds, but he did not live to see the start of construction, and the city government began to spend his money not for its intended purpose. Only after the personal intervention of Tsar Nicholas I, the construction of the church began according to the project of the architect Joseph Charlemagne, and in 1856 the Sampson's Church was solemnly consecrated.

In 1893-1895, reconstruction was carried out, a second throne in honor of Saint Constantine was added to the church. The iconostasis was made in the workshop of the Moscow merchant Astafiev, the icons were painted by the artist Malyshev. In 1909, the belfry over the gate was completed.

The Savior-Transfiguration Monastery in Mhar is one of the most revered Orthodox shrines in Ukraine.

It was founded in 1619 by Metropolitan Isaya (Kopynsky) at the expense of Princess Rayina Mohylyanka Vyshnevetska, who owned Lubny in the 17th century. According to legend, angels indicated the place for the construction of the monastery to the princess.

In 1684-1692, on the site of the first wooden church, at the expense of hetmans Ivan Samoylovych and Ivan Mazepa, the stone Savior-Transfiguration Cathedral was built (architect Johann-Baptist Sauer).

The exterior of the temple combines the ancient Ukrainian style of the 11th-12th centuries with the Baroque-Renaissance architecture of Western Europe, with a lot of non-canonical decor.

The complex also includes a bell tower in the baroque style (1837-1844), the Annunciation warm church (now Saint Athanasius) in the pseudo-Byzantine style (XIX century), the abbot's and brotherhoods (18th century), the two-level church of Saint Athanasius (now Annunciation, 1891 year).

Patriarch Athanasius of Constantinople, who died during a visit to his beloved monastery, and other church figures are buried here. The monastery enjoyed the support of Ukrainian hetmans and Russian tsars, it was visited by Ivan Mazepa, Peter I, Taras Shevchenko, Oleksandr Pushkin and others.

In Soviet times, a disciplinary battalion was stationed here, warehouses were located, then a pioneer camp. Most of the frescoes were damaged (in memory of these events, the shot icon of Saint Oleksandra was preserved).

The Annunciation in Mhar was returned to the church in 1993, and restoration was carried out. Monks conduct tours.

In 1990, the "Holodomor-33" Memorial of People's Grief was built nearby on Hill Zazhura in the form of a large bell on a mound, which offers the best view of the monastery.

The Semenivka Local Lore Museum is located in a large two-story building in the center of the Semenivka town in the Poltava region. It opened in 1962 and introduces visitors to the history and life of the region.

The main exposition of the museum has seven sections: "Svitlytsia", "Ethnography", "Culture, Science, Art", "Nature", "Russian-Ukrainian War", "World War II", "Historical".

The museum's art gallery hosts exhibitions of folk craftsmen and local artists, including Vasyl Artikulny, Ivan Peretiatko and others.

The palace in the romantic style was built in Khoroshky in 1848 by Prince Shcherbatov.

In Soviet times, the building housed a secondary school. In 1966, some episodes of the film comedy "Wedding in Malynivka" were filmed on the territory of the former Shcherbatov estate. In particular, wedding scenes were filmed in the interiors of the palace.

After the school got a new building, Shcherbatov's palace was abandoned for a long time and fell into disrepair. In 2006, it became private property - the palace was bought by a family from Poltava region. The territory around the palace was cleared of debris and a small repair of the right wing was carried out. The new owners gave the object a new name - "Ramaydan Manor", on its basis the implementation of the environmental project "TurboVulyk" is planned. Excursions are conducted.